Candle With Non-Consuming / Reusable Wick

ABSTRACT

A non consuming/reusable candle includes a wick that is a made of a porous sintered metal or alloy or of ceramic. The wick is conducive to wicking, via capillary action, any candle fuel for the purpose of combustion. The wick shape may be of any multiple geometrical shapes, and may be straight or curved, and provide either a narrow or broad flame. A wick holder can also be employed to hold the non consuming wick in place as well as to help with heat transfer to the body of the wax

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/408,822, filed on Nov. 1, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to candles with a non consuming/reusable wick.

Both modern and traditional candles contain a wick that is made of a consumable material, such as cotton, rayon, cellulose, hemp, or other fiber-type material that is braided, knitted, or woven in some form or fashion with or without self supporting material such as cotton, paper, zinc, thermoplastic polymer, or some other stiffening material.

When a candle is first lit, the heat of the flame melts the wax (fuel) near the wick. This melted wax is then drawn up the wick by capillary action. The heat of the flame subsequently vaporizes the liquid wax and then burns the wick. The flame continues to consume the wax and the wick is consumed as the fuel is depleted and the flame continues to burn down following the level of fuel. The function of the wick in a candle is the same as in an oil lamp, where the primary difference is that in the oil's state of matter is liquid at room temperature. Both oil lamps and candles continue to burn until the flame is extinguished or the fuel becomes depleted.

In today's container candles (i.e., candles sold/used in a container) a wick sustainer, also known has a wick holder, is primarily used to provide attachment and lateral support to the consumable wick to its container during candle pouring. It is important that the wick holder be sealed and adhered to the bottom of a container with an adhesive. A variety of wick holders for consumable wicks are known in the prior art such as the wick holders shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,309,545; 2,324,753; 3,998,922; 4,381,914.

It is recognized that container candles are sold with a wick and wick sustainer integral to the candle. As the candle is consumed so is the wick. It is obvious that for each candle purchased and consumed, a wick that is integral to that candle is also consumed. At the end of the candle's life the container has little to no use as the wick sustainer cannot be safely removed. Thus, recycling the candle jar for other uses is not possible, and for this reason, it is suggested that the container candle be discarded after use.

There is certainly a need for a candle container that can be used multiple times. This may be advantageous to the end-use as it reduces waste and creates a “recyclable” or “green” candle container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the application and use of a non consuming/reusable candle wick that is a porous sintered material made of metal or some type of alloy that is molded, formed, or fashioned though various techniques into a medium conducive to wicking via capillary action, any candle fuel for the purpose of combustion.

The wick shape may be of any multiple geometrical shapes, such as a cylinder, square, rectangle, triangle, trapezoidal, cubical, etc. and may be straight or curved, and provide either a narrow or broad flame. The sintered material may be comprised of any type of metal or alloy, and preferably any grade of stainless steel. Alternatively the material out of which the wick is formed can be ceramic or other non combustible/non consuming material that does not sustain flame but can be manufactured to sustain capillary action. A wick holder can also be employed to hold the non consuming wick in place as well as to help with heat transfer to the body of the wax.

Another important property of the non consuming/reusable metal wick is that of heat conduction. Heat is readily conducted from the flame through out the body of the wick. This advantageous heat transfer property is important in some applications as described herein.

These and other features and objects of the present invention will be full understood from the following detailed description which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a candle with a non consuming/reusable wick of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the non consuming/reusable wick and heat transfer/melting plate of the candle shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plain view of the heat transfer melting plate shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view of a set of wicks of a variety of widths that can be used as the non consuming reusable wick of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows the geometry of wicks used in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a process flow of the manufacture of an alternate embodiment of a candle of the present invention with a non consuming/reusable wick.

FIG. 7 is a process flow of the manufacture of still another alternate embodiment of a candle of the present invention with a non consuming/reusable wick.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a still further embodiment of a candle of the present invention with a non consuming/reusable wick.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a candle 10 which is housed in a container 12 includes a non consuming/reusable wick 14. Wick 14 is made of a porous sintered metal or alloy (preferably, any grade of stainless steel) that is molded, formed, or fashioned though various well known techniques into a medium conducive to wicking, via capillary action, any candle fuel for the purpose of combustion. Sintering is a method for making objects from powder, by heating the material in a sintering furnace below its melting point (solid state sintering) until its particles adhere to each other. A medium that contains small open spaces (e.g., a sintered material) is conducive to wicking via capillary action. Alternatively, the wick can be formed from a ceramic or other non combustible/non consuming material that does not sustain flame but can be manufactured to sustain capillary action. Such a ceramic would contain small open pores through which liquid would rise through capillary action. A wick holder can also be employed to hold the non consuming wick in place as well as to help with heat transfer to the body of the wax.

Wick 14 is positioned to extend through both the top and bottom surfaces of heat transfer/melting plate 16. The heat transfer/melting plate 16 is made of a metal material. The wick 14 is adhered to the melting plate 16 by either friction or adhesion by a non-flammable adhesive. In preferred embodiments the wick 14 should extend above the plate by 0.25″ to 0.75″ and below the plate by 0.25″ to 0.75″. The wick 14, which may initially be infused with a fuel such as candle wax, is lit and together with the melting plate 16 conducts heat to the wax body 18 thereby causing the melting of that wax body 18. Plate 16 sits on top of wax body 18, and as wax body 18 is consumed the plate 16 travels downwardly in container 12. Plate 16 also includes a number of vents 20 which allows wax to accumulate on the melting plate and allows a scented wax to defuse scent into the air.

The flame height and the heat output is self regulated by the amount of fuel that is actually captured in the plate 16. If there is too much fuel on the plate 16, the flame 22 shrinks and if there is too little fuel the flame 22 increases. A steady state is reached when the flame 22 is consistent in height and heat output. The candle fuel 18 is spent when the plate 16 reaches the bottom of container 12. Once all the fuel 18 is spent the plate 16 and wick 14 can be removed for another use. The melting plate 16 also includes a flow guide 24 which is located at the bottom surface of the melting plate 16 to keep the melting plate 16 centered during burning. The flow guide 24 is the first part of the plate 16 that melts the wax 18 due to the heat of the flame. The flow guide 24, being the lowest point of the plate 24, melts the wax 18 creating a vertical path for the plate 16.

The melting plate 16 and the wick 14 can be designed in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on a number of factors. The plate 16 is preferably sized to conform with the dimensions of the container 12. One purpose of plate 16 is to hold the wick 14 in a particular location both vertically and horizontally. Different candle jars and wax formulations may require a specific design to accomplish the optimal in burn characteristics. As shown in FIG. 4 the wick 14 can be of a wide variety of widths and as shown in FIG. 5 the wick 14 may have a variety of shapes extending through plate 16. For example, the wick could be a fairly wide width which is in a ribbon shape or it could be a narrow conical shape.

Referring to FIG. 6 another embodiment of a reusable candle is shown. In this embodiment, a wick sustainer 32 is positioned within a container 34. After the wick 36 is inserted into the wick sustainer 32, wax beads 38 are poured into the container 34. Wax powder can also be poured into the container 34. The wax beads or powder may be scented. When the wax beads 38 are poured into the container 34, they are poured to a level just below the top of wick 36. In this embodiment, wick 36 is made of the same materials as the wick 14 described above (metal, metal alloy or ceramic). The lighting of the wick initiates wax bead melting and subsequently capillary action to draw the wax up to the flame thereby supporting continued burning of the flame. The candle will burn until the wax is consumed or the flame is extinguished. With the wicks of the present invention, capillary action will continue until the fuel supply is exhausted (consumed). Additional wax beads 38 can always be added to the candle container 34 as long as the beads do not extend above the height of the wick. As is the case in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3 the wick may be of any of the variety of shapes and sizes shown in FIGS. 4-5.

In most cases the wick needs to be infused with wax or some other fuel to initially start the wick flame and begin the wicking activity. In some embodiments when the wick is reused it may need to be reinfused with wax or some other fuel to restart the wicking process.

Turning now to FIG. 7 another embodiment of the candle with a non consuming reusable wick is shown in which a wick sustainer 50 is positioned on a platform 53 within a candle container 52. Platform 53 can be constructed of metal, ceramic or glass, which materials prevent the bottom of container 50 from becoming to hot when the wax is consumed. Wick 54 is positioned within the wick sustainer before being positioned in container 52. In this case, the candle fuel is made of a solid wax often referred to as a puck which may or may not be scented. The pucks 56 can be sold without a wick and include a central void 58 of dimensions suitable to allow the wick 54 to pass therethrough. The puck 56 is positioned over the top of the wick 54 and rests on the base of the container 50. The height of the puck 56 should not exceed the height of the wick 54 in the container 52 when the puck 56 is positioned over the wick 54. This candle will burn until the wax 56 is consumed or the flame is extinguished. Upon fuel exhaustion the container 52 is ready to accept another solid wax candle puck 56. This action may be repeated as long as the wick 54 promotes capillary action. As is the case with the previous embodiments described above, the wick 54 may be of a variety of shapes and sizes as shown in FIGS. 4-5. It is also possible that the wax puck 56 could be of a variety of shapes and sizes.

Referring now to the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, a liquid fuel candle is shown that includes a container 60, a non consuming reusable wick 62 positioned within the container and a liquid fuel 64 which is placed in the container. The liquid fuel 64 is a type of fuel normally used in an oil lamp. One end of the wick 62 extends into the liquid fuel 64 and the other end extends outside the container 60 some distance above the top of the container 60. The candle will burn until the liquid fuel is consumed or the flame is extinguished. The wick 62 provides an advantage over traditional fiberglass wicks in that it can be repetitively used as it does not burn down. The fuel level should provide a certain amount of headspace 66 because temperature variations in the container will affect the volume of the fuel.

With each of the wicks described above, it may be necessary to “reprime” the wick by reinfusing it with fuel prior to use.

While the foregoing invention has been described with reference to its preferred embodiments, various alterations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. All such alterations and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A reusable candle comprising: a container with an opening at a top end of said container; a solid fuel positioned within said container; a heat transfer plate positioned to rest on said solid fuel; and a non consuming wick positioned to extend through said heat transfer plate into said solid fuel, said wick also extending above said heat transfer plate.
 2. The reusable candle of claim 1 wherein said heat transfer plate further comprises vents through said plate to allow scent from the said fuel to vent from said candle.
 3. The reusable candle of claim 1 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a porous sintered metal.
 4. The reusable candle of claim 1 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a porous sintered metal alloy.
 5. The reusable candle of claim 1 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a ceramic.
 6. The reusable candle of claim 1 wherein said heat transfer plate is made of metal.
 7. A reusable candle comprising: a container with an opening at a top end of said container; a non consuming wick positioned within said container; and wax particles deposited within said container to a height below the top of said non consuming wick.
 8. The reusable candle of claim 7 further comprising a noncombustible wick sustainer positioned on a bottom surface of said container for securing and positioning said non consuming wick in said container.
 9. The reusable candle of claim 7 wherein said wax particles are wax beads.
 10. The reusable candle of claim 7 wherein said wax particles are wax powder particles.
 11. The reusable candle of claim 7 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a porous sintered metal.
 12. The reusable candle of claim 7 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a porous sintered metal alloy.
 13. The reusable candle of claim 7 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a ceramic.
 14. A reusable candle comprising: a container; a non consuming wick positioned within said container; and a solid fuel block having a central void extending through said block, said solid fuel block being positioned over said wick so that said wick extends through said fuel block.
 15. The reusable candle of claim 14 wherein said reusable candle further comprises a non combustible wick sustainer positioned on a bottom surface of said container, said wick sustainer having an opening into which said wick is secured.
 16. The reusable candle of claim 14 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a porous sintered metal.
 17. The reusable candle of claim 14 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a porous sintered metal alloy.
 18. The reusable candle of claim 14 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a ceramic.
 19. A reusable candle comprising: a container; a non consuming wick positioned within said container; and a liquid fuel deposited in said container to a level below the top of said non consuming wick.
 20. The reusable candle of claim 19 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a porous sintered metal.
 21. The reusable candle of claim 19 wherein said non consuming wick is made up of a porous sintered metal alloy.
 22. The reusable candle of claim 19 wherein said non consuming wick is made of a ceramic. 